Hanger structure



Sept. 24, 1968 Y, JR 3,402,909

HANGER STRUCTURE Filed June 20, 1966 INVENTOR. ALLAN B. ELY, J'R

BY awm wwlm AT T Y S.

United States Patent 3,402,909 HANGER STRUCTURE Allan B. Ely, Jr., Stow, Ohio, assignor to Weather-Seal, Inc., Barberton, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed June 20, 1966, Ser. No. 558,638 1 Claim. (Cl. 248317) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A hanger for suspending therefrom flat metal workpieces or the like includes a substantially rectangularly shaped holder member having a central opening therein with two adjacent axially spaced, sharp pronged sections forming and guarding an entrance to the opening. The pronged sections are spaced from the vertical center line of the holder member and are adapted to wedge against opposed surfaces of the metal workpiece inserted into the opening. The hanger member has a hole offset from its vertical center line adapted to receive a hook member or the like and a hook member extends through the hole to engage and support the hanger member and position it in a suspended, inclined position.

This invention relates to a hanger adapted to suspend therefrom a flat or elongate metal member or the like.

It has always been desirable to provide a simple yet efficient way to hang or suspend a substantially flat metal member or the like during the manufacture thereof. For example, during most assembly line processes and for painting, it is expedient to transport the workpiece from one assembly station to another, this usually being accomplished by some type of overhead conveyor system to which the workpiece is attached. It has been found that with a flat workpiece, it sometimes is very difficult to find an efficient and effective Way of quickly securing the flat workpiece to the conveyor means so that it can be moved about the plant and be readily removed from the conveyor means.

It is the general object of the present invention to provide a simple, but yet highly effective hanger member which is adapted to releasably secure a substantially flat workpiece to an overhead conveyor system or the like. The hanger member is basically comprised from a piece of substantially rectangularly shaped metal which has a central opening into which an end of the flat workpiece can be inserted. The hanger member is provided with two sharp prongs which are adapted to wedge against opposed surfaces of the flat workpiece so that the workpiece will be prevented from slipping out of the hanger member as it is transported from one place in the plant to another by the overhead conveyor system.

For a better understanding of the apparatus of the invention, reference should be had to the following drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of a preferred embodiment of the hanger structure of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is an end elevation of the embodiment illustrated in FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary side elevation of a standard overhead conveyor system utilizing the hanger member of the invention, this view particularly illustrating in progressive steps the way in which the flat workpiece is first inserted into the central opening of the hanger member and then wedged against the prongs of the hanger member which prevent the workpiece from slipping out of the hanger structure of the invention.

Referring to the drawings in greater detail, and particularly FIGURE 1, the numeral generally illustrates the hanger or holder member of the invention. The hanger 3,402,909 Patented Sept. 24, 1968 "ice member 10 is substantially rectangular in shape, and as illustrated by FIGURE 2, it is relatively thin. The hanger member 10 is generally constructed of some durable, strong metal such as steel or aluminum. The hanger member 10 has cut or formed therein a central opening 12 which has an entrance or slot 14 provided thereto. Guarding the entrance 14 into the central opening 12 of the hanger member 10 are 'a pair of sharp inwardly directed prongs 16 and 18, which are positioned on opposed sides of the entrance 14 into the central opening 12. As is best illustrated by FIGURE 1, the inwardly directed prongs 16 and 18 do not extend inwardly far enough to reach an imaginary midpoint line 20 which effects a division of the central opening 12 into two equal halves. This is significant because it shows that although the prongs 16 and 18 do extend inwardly to guard the entrance 14 into the central opening 12, there still is a substantial opening between the two prongs which permit a portion of a substantially flat workpiece to be inserted therebetween, as will be explained in further detail hereinafter. The angle A, which is the angle of intersection between the prong 16 and imaginary line 20, for example, is approximately 40, and the angle B, which measures the intersection between the prong 18 and imaginary line 20, is, for example, about 34. It should be pointed out, however, that the angle of inclination of the prongs 16 and 18 can vary considerably, and generally is dependent upon the type of workpiece which is to be held and transported by the hanger member 10.

In order to allow the hanger member 10 to be connected to a standard overhead conveyor belt system, a hole 22 is provided in an upper corner of the hanger member. It should be noted that the hole 22 is substantially remote from the imaginary line 20 which designates the center line of the hanger member 10. The effect of placing the hole 22 off of the imaginary center line 20 is best illustrated by FIGURE 3 which shows a hanger member 10a connected to a standard overhead conveyor means, or belt 24 by means of a suitable hook 26 which is extended through the hole 22a of the hanger member 10a. The hanger member 10a of FIG. 3 illustrates the way it inclines as it is suspended from the overhead conveyor 24. The hanger member 10b, also suspended from the conveyor 24 by means of a hook 26b, illustrates the way in which a substantially flat elongate workpiece 28 has a portion thereof inserted between the prongs 16b and 18b and into the central opening 12b of the hanger member 10b. It should be noted that the workpiece 28b has to be slightly inclined in order to pass it between prongs 16b and 18b.

Hanger member 10c of FIG. 3 also has been connected to the conveyor 24 by means of a hook 26c. The hanger member 10c illustrates the precise way it is utilized to releasably hold a workpiece 280, which has been inserted into the central opening thereof. A portion of the workpiece 280 also has been inserted past the prongs 16c and in a like manner to the workpiece 28. The hanger member 10c merely shows the way in which the faces of the workpiece 28c naturally wedge into contact with, or are engaged by, the prongs 16c and 18c so that the workpiece 280 is held to the conveyor 24 by means of the hanger structure of the invention. It should be noted that as the workpiece 28c is tilted to wedge against the prongs 16c and 181: so that it is held to the hanger member 100, the workpiece 28c inclines to almost a vertical position and will be carried in such a way .as the overhead conveyor 24 transports the workpiece 28c to another area of the plant.

It should be noted that one purpose of the off center hole 22 is to effect a tilting of the hanger member 10 prior to a workpiece being inserted into the central opening 12 thereof. This slight tilting of the hanger member facilitates sliding a portion of the workpiece into the opening .12 so that it can be effectively wedged against the prongs 16 and 18. By positioning the hole 22- off center, a tilting of the holder member is achieved whereby a workpiece can be effectively wedged against the prongs of the holder member with only a very slight pivoting of the workpiece being necessary after a portion thereof has been effectively slid into the central opening of the holder member. Thus, it is easy to see that a workman wishing to hang a workpiece to the overhead conveyor system, can do so very easily by merely tilting the workpiece until a portion thereof can be slid into the central opening 12 of the holder member 10. After such has been accomplished, the workman need only let go of the workpiece with the natural dropping pivotal action thereof tending to wedge the portion of the workpiece into firm engagement with the prongs 16 and 1 8 by the support provided for the hanger. When it is desired to remove the workpiece from the overhead conveyor, the workman needs only to tilt and pivot the workpiece in the opposite direction so that the portion thereof comes out of wedging engagement with the prongs 16 and 18, thus enabling the workpiece to be easily slid out of the hanger member 10.

While a certain representative embodiment and details have been shown for the purpose of illustrating the invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in this art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a hanger for suspending therefrom substantially fiat metal workpieces or the like, the combination of a thin substantially rectangular shaped holder member having a central opening with two adjacent, opposed, axially spaced, sharp prong sections forming and guarding an entrance to said opening, said holder member having a hole therein at an upper portion thereof offset from said axial center line and adapted to receive a hook member, and a hook member extending through said hole so that said holder member is suspended from said hook member with the hole location causing the longitudinal axis of the holder member to be in an inclined position,

said prong sections being spaced laterally from the axial center line of the holder member and adapted to wedge against opposed surfaces of a metal workpiece inserted into said opening to thereby engage such metal workpiece, and

the end of one of said prong sections being positioned vertically lower than the end of the other of said prong sections and the higher of said prong sections being offset on the same side of said axial center line of said holder member as said hole.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,079,240 5/1937 Bruns 294 92 2,542,289 2/1951 Robbins 29492 XR FOREIGN PATENTS 196,580 3/1958 Austria.

497,995 12/1953 Canada.

ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examin r.

J. F. FOSS, Assistant Examiner. 

